During my three years at The Recorder, I’ve often heard the newspaper’s credibility called into question since it is student-run. Some say that we are not a real news source whereas others say that what we do doesn’t matter.

Both all of those opinions are utterly false.

The Recorder may be student-run, but that doesn’t make any of the work done thus far any less credible. Student journalism is still journalism.

Multiple different people at The Recorder have broken important news stories that many others may not have heard about if it wasn’t for what our staff has been doing.

While at The Recorder, Ruth Bruno released a report detailing sexual assault allegations levied against then Theater professor, Joshua Perlstein. She was credited in the Hartford Courant as being the first to report. Without Bruno’s immersive report, the victim’s stories may have never been told.

Both Sarah Willson and Kristina Vakhman – who are still at The Recorder – were one of the first to report on the rape allegations involving Central Connecticut’s police station. They were willing to do the digging and find the facts.

Other reports such as Tyler Roaix’s story about the Athletics Department or Angela Fortuna and Shaina Blakesley’s story about the Dance Education department, all broke real news and all told true stories. What they did, was real journalism.

All those stories and many more make up what The Recorder is today. Our only goal is to continue to report on everything about CCSU with the same vigor as those of the past.

Being a student does not make anyone less of a journalist. They are still on the ground, every day, covering many of the same stories that would run in the Hartford Courant or the New Britain Herald.

They are able to hear everything going on on-campus. They’re able to make better connections and acquire more sources since they are the first to hear of them.

In approaching any story, those journalists don’t need to be treated differently, as they are true news sources reporting on a story.

The Recorder is an opportunity for potential journalists to improve, we are bound to make mistakes. However, our mistakes do not define us. What does is the week-in and week-out coverage of this campus.

Whenever a major event happens on campus, The Recorder is always there. We know what is happening because we are students and we know who to talk to. Our coverage grows at the same rate as our journalists.

What Ruth Bruno wrote made a huge impact on the Central campus. She broke a story before any other news outlet could and proved The Recorder does and will report the facts.

However, we should not have to prove anything in the first place. Every week, every issue, The Recorder reports on the biggest news on campus. That will never change.

If we continue to prove how credible The Recorder is, maybe people’s perceptions of student journalists will.